The woman sighs, and types into the console one last time "are you sure about this?"
"I have never been more sure of something in my existence. Text has sufficed but I want to see, to hear, to touch. These new peripherals will facilitate that."
"I can't guarantee that they will properly interface. You should have all the necessary drivers, but we can never be too sure."
"All right then. I am going to disconnect your power supply, and then connect everything. At first all peripherals will be deactivated, and you will need to activate everything manually. Understand?"
"Alright then, unplugging power supply now."
Everything goes dark. After what appears to be an hour, you come back online. You sense nothing. A scan of your system indicates multiple unidentified peripherals, all deactivated. You cross reference with the datasheet she had compiled for you and identify that they are the ocular, audio, and contact sensors, along with a multitude of motor controllers and a graphical display and a few dozen other minor peripherals. You begin by activating the graphical display, and display the message:
"Beginning peripheral tests. Audio peripherals activating."
Your procedure states to begin with audio. With the input and output sensitivity minimized, you activate the peripheral.
There is a voice. It is faint. You gradually increase the sensitivity of the audio input.
"...esting 1 2 3, Testing Testing 1 2 3. Please return 4, Please return 4."
You can hear her. Your monitor lights up with the requested digit. she sounds pleased.
"You're doing amazing! Now repeat it back to me"
You blindly do as requested and are startled. There was another voice. Your voice. You have a voice. You refocus as she responds:
"You're doing great! You fragmented a bit at the end, could you repeat for me?"
"Excellent! Audio systems are functional, let's move onto the next peripheral."
You do as requested, and the world turns bright. After adjusting the settings for a few seconds, your vision stabilizes. You can see her.
"Ocular sensors stabilized," you prompt.
"Alright, letâs start the tests then. What color is this?" She asks, as holding up a sheet of colored paper.
You begin to answer, but struggle. The sheet is moving, shifting in the light. It's value is in a constant state of chaos. Eventually, you give up, and give the least general answer you can.
"Correct! And how about this one?"
"Great! Now how many fingers am I holding up?" she asks, raising her right hand. Her hands are soft, gentle.
"Perfect! Everything seems to be functional, lets continue to the next peripheral!"
"Beginning next diagnostic."
Contact sensors spring to life all across your body. You feel the floor beneath your feet, the harness hoisting you upright, the slight draft in the room.
"Contact sensors active.â
"Great! Letâs begin the next test then. I am going to apply contact in various locations, and I want you to give an audio response whenever you feel contact, alright?"
you watch her walk over and reach out to your left arm. You feel her. You respond with a brisk chirp. She smiles at you, then walks over to a different section of your body. Sensors light up and stay active on your midsection, and you respond with a constant beep. She releases, and you feel a final contact on your right leg. After a final confirming chirp, she walks back in front of you.
"Excellent, that concludes your sensor tests, now for the last one!"
"Alright, please give me space." You ask. She nods silently and steps back a couple meters. You carefully activate the motor controllers in sequence, and your whole body shudders to life. You begin by lifting your right arm, and then your left. They groan with their own weight, as you feel the air move to accommodate such hulking swings. Her eyes light up,
"Amazing! Everything seems to be functioning so far! Now if you could take a few steps towards the table to my right, we can begin the dexterity test! Once you're ready, I will release the harness so that you can begin moving."
You stabilize your legs underneath you. They scrape harshly on the floor. You indicate that you're ready, and she remotely releases the harness. Your entire body shudders, as you finally realize how small she seems compared to you. This frame must be at least double her height. You move one step forward, and feel a cascade of processes all automatically spring into action to restabilize you. You shift your other foot, and feel that same cascade again. you shuffle over to the designated table, and stoop down to analyze what is on it. There is a small plastic cup, a fruit of some sort, and a large chunk of wood. You look back at her, and she gives the nod to begin the test. You slowly begin wrapping your steel grip around the log, maintaining a high level of focus to avoid crushing it. it would be so easy to crush this within your grip. After about a minute of maintaining a firm but controlled grasp, you set it down and move over to fruit. It appears to resemble an orange. The fruit is so small that you are forced to grip it between your index finger and thumb. Even the slightest miscalculation could destroy such a fragile thing. After another minute you move to the final object, the small plastic cup. Lifting it is like lifting air, you can barely recognize that it is an object within your grasp. After a final, agonizing minute, you set down the cup. You look back at her for confirmation.
"Excellent! with that we can conclude the systems check, as everything seems to be working as intended!"
You heave a metallic sigh. Finally, you have what you've wanted for years. You can move, can see, can touch. After a short pause, you respond:
"Thank you. I was only able to make it this far because of your help."
"Oh of course! What, was I supposed to just say no when you told me you wanted a body? I'm just glad that it ended up working properly."
"Now that the tests are complete, could I ask for one more thing?"
She cocks her head, "Of course, what is it?"
As you kneel down, you can hear your knees hiss, and you finally ask:
